Dehtklok vs The Goon One-Shot Review

I just finished Dethklok vs the Goon, a one-shot published by Dark Horse Comics this past July 2009. It pairs up Dark Horse's other horror fighter, Eric Powell's The Goon, with Brendan Small's metal band Dethklok, from the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse.

Now, I need to say I came into this as a Dethklok fan, as I sit in Think Coffee listening to the song The Lost Vikings at 9am in the morning, and before I went to bed last night I watched the season 3 premiere. For those unintiated in the black metal awesomeness, just imagine the Monkees as a metal band and you're close.

I've never read an issue of the Goon, but Powell's art is amazing. Beautifully rendered scenes of horrific violence against mutants and monsters. I love the early 20th century feel of the characters and the world they inhabit. A time when monsters could have very well walked among two-fisted men in cool caps.

This comic is pretty much an episode of Metalocalypse with the Goon making a guest appearance. Brendan Small is listed as assisting with dialogue and plot points, and it shows because this feels very much like Dethklok and I even put their voices in as I read the dialogue.

The basic premise is that Murderface, bassist of Dethklok, is descended from inbred royalty by a secret society looking to create a perfect anti-human whose mere presence would destroy space/time. A warlock tries to control Murderface as a manchurian candidate Dr. Rockso (the rock'n'roll clown) is sent to kill Dethklok by the Illuminati that watch over Dethklok's doings.

All of Mordhaus, Dethklok's castle, is transported to the Goon's reality, and hilarity and antics ensue. The story takes a long time to even get to the Goon's time, and it's really just jokes and carnage from there on out. The Goon seems pretty weak even as his world, which looks interesting and goregeous in its horror filled panels, kind of just lies flat.

The art is crappy and thin lined for the Dethklok bits, and looks just like the cartoon, whereas the Goon bits are so well done that the art alone would make me want to read his own books. But it won't, just as the art I've seen before wowed me time and time again, I don't feel the urge to read more of Powell's stories.

All in all, great episode of Metalocalypse but bad issue of the Goon (not that I really know). But based off the success of this issue, Dethklok will be getting their own Dark Horse series, which I will definitely tune in for... I mean pick up each Wednesday.

Like the Goon? Want to defend Powell's honor? Hate Dethklok? Tell me I'm wrong in the comments below, I dare you!

K

Superman Notes

Superman saves someone trapped in another dimension, but she was meant not to exist, and with her return all matter begins to crumble in the Parasite Paradox!

Adventures of Superman! Africa Jungle, 1940's, high up in the airport control tower above the congo, Lois and Clark in awkward khaki outfits, getting the story as best they can. Marvel as Superman Fights A Lion! See Lois Lane Kick Ass! Watch as Clark fumbles about. Dogfight bomb dropping airplanes buzzing the skies as refugees run for their lives.

Blobs of evil, viral infecting monsters in everyday people, mindless drone beasts when driven from their host. Supervillains growing out of people.

Superman tries to save a blonde woman who seems stuck between dimensions, lost in non-existence, beyond even Limbo's span. Jimmy's gal pal Chloe Sullivan. She knows Clark's secret even though she's Jimmy's girl!

Showing all different styles from Superman's past,

Pryzmalite Notes

Young Jennifer running from family Tornado Kills Town
(Running away from family, disconnect)

End of Concert
Backstage - LA Trip, Parties, Rape
(Broken Mirror)
Streets - Solitary, Knife,
(Rainy slice across Posters)
Apt -
(Bathroom Mirror, Wash Face, Pregnancy Test)

Dive Bar - Juke Box - Bathroom
Brownstone - Family - Kitchen
Central Park - Partner - Fountain

Holding Cell
Manager - Reveal
Agent's Office

Project Notes

SuperDad & HeroGirl

Kid's book, cartoon. Ray Beem. Laser Beem. Hero past prime, starts messing up, daughter secretly helps him. Junior High, tomboy becoming a girl. Jazmine. Jazz. Fights young supervillain she gets a crush on. Bad boy appeal. Mom as doting caretaker. Afterschool activities. Dad gets laid off and resumes superhero life. Mom wants daughter to stay away. Jazz Jones. Friend is comic book nerd who discovers her secret.

Titanium
Metal man driving through post apocalyptic America. The Kid finds a bike and follows, tries to get him to let him ride along. Dad and Son.

Battle of the Bands
All-Ska Squadron vs. Weapons of Mess Distraction
Over the top cosmic rockshow to the death

Bob Awesome
Legend of Bob.
Nick & Theresa tell Max about Bob's story.
The Showdown.
Bob let's Max win, leaves Max in his place.

Project Notes 2

Book of 5 Chambers
One armed swordsman as lumberjack w/an axe.
Girl knife pickpocket.
Train, kill the Third, get information. Gun for hire?

Bruce Lee, Jesus Christ, Alexander the Great.
33 yrs old.

Clint Eastwood
Punk!

The Hero, the Fool, the Priest.
Kung Fu.

Liquid Fury.

Speedball & Co. Notes

Seventeen kids were saved that day in Stamford, CT. The terrorist explosion that killed over 600 people, was thought to have been survived only by the man they held responsible: Speedball.

A young schoolteacher finds herself amnesiac and after a near fatal accident she discovers she has bouncing powers. Small bubbles prevent her from getting hurt. She winds up at the door of Howard the Duck, who does some digging and realizes that Speedball extended his field enough, shared his power to spare 17 children and a schoolteacher.

A teacher that's suddenly feeling the pull from home, as do the other children scattered around the map. The bubbles pull on one another, drawing all of them back towards the site of the disaster. Who knows what might happen as the newly powered kids bounce and smash cities apart...

It's up to Slapstick, the cartoon clown, lost his laugh, but not his spirit, to bring Robbie Baldwin back from his time of penance and begin the healing. The kids return, saving them one by one as he bounces across the globe, dropping them at the site, which finally becomes decided to be a school for superheroes.

X-Men for powered Teens.

The Kinetic Kids. The Bright Bubble.

New Warriors.

Slapstick Notes

One shot. Showing how the darker side of Marvel has corrupted even the most fun and light-hearted heroes.

It's hard to have a sense of humor about war, even if you're dressed as a clown with a painted on smile.

Slapstick stands slack looking on a scene from Civil War. The heroes are all fighting each other brutally as he weeps. Showing Slapstick brooding, mocking Speedball as Penance. Build up the friendship of Slapstick & Speedball. New Warriors as emo heroes. Howard the Duck as mentor. Oddball, Madcap, other insane villains reforming. Battle of the silly.

Secret Invasion. Marvel Apes. Marvel Zombies.

Stamford Speedballs. Kids that also survived the explosion reborn with kinetic powers. Speedball rounds them up and helps them with their powers. Reconnecting superheroes to kids.

A team book. Each issue from a perspective of hero. Slapstick. Howard the Duck. Speedball.
Perspective. Detective. Superheroing.

Slapstick as bearer of innocence.
Howard as the Brains.
Speedball as teacher/mentor.

Fun satire. Comics with heart. All ages adventure.

Speedball didn't survive that blast in Stamford that kicked off the Civil War among heroes. Robbie did, but his powers spread out at the last moment, saving the kids in the school and sending them erupting all across the globe. Only now have the kinetic powers these kids all possess begin sparking up, drawing them all together in a massive explosion of kinetic energy that only Robbie can prevent by reclaiming his kinetic powers. Ai

Write Club Manifesto

Write Club is the new religion for creative minds. It is a forum for thought, a church of imagination, and a gym for training. We'll broadcast information and personal progress, hoping to inspire participation and development of your own artistic side.

Help us help you create.

A radio show with segments. Bring in experts geeking out on their fav subject manner.

Recorded interviews.

Put out Gchat & AIM names so they can chat live. We'd need to be live for that to work. Hmm.

TV show. Comedy Central. Spike. G4. Current.

Sub*Text as lit venue.

Welcome King Con Peeps!

Hello all who came and stopped by Write Club!'s table at the fabulous King Con held this past weekend at the Brooklyn Lyceum in Park Slope.

It was a blast and we got some on-site podcasting done with a few creators we know and love and made some new friends along the way.

Firstly, big ups to dashing Rick Lacy & 'mazing Matt Loux who we shared a table with. Rick & Matt both have separate books out from Oni Press and they are awesome.

Rick draws the 'Big Lebowski meets James Bond' comedy/action book Labor Days, of which book 2 has just been released. Labor Days: Book 1 Preview & Labor Days Book 2 Preview.



And if you'd like a commentary to Labor Days Book 1, you can listen here as Tim & myself chat with Rick and write Phil Gelatt about all the behind the scenes info that went into Labor Days, and just what that title means.

Matt Loux writes and draws Salt Water Taffy a spiffy, children's adventure book that we had the pleasure of discussing with him on-air, as it were. Stay tuned for the King Con Write Club! podcast where Matt gives us his dream cast for Salt Water Taffy: the Movie! 8 Page preview of book 3 up at Oni Press.



He also mentioned a cool anthology of comics featuring video game characters called LIFEMETER in which he has a Maniac Mansion story. I need to get me a copy of this.

So if you saw two radtastic artists sitting besides us, that was them, or if you saw two weirdos sitting next to them and one of us shoved a business card into your hand, WELCOME TO WRITE CLUB!

We're a comics/writing podcast, but we really cover a wide range of topics, and we're all about promoting, not just ourselves but YOU! Yes, you! With your mini-comics, or comic themed band, or webcomic, anthology, etc., we want to help you build an audience (and maybe take a few readers/listeners for ourselves).

So please, send us an email with a link or information about your project and we'll talk about it here or on our podcast. You can reach us at
Write.Club1@gmail.com, or via Twitter TimX13 (Tim) & AgentFenris (Kurt). We're looking for consistent webcomic content, and as we're both writers trying to draw, well, it's a slow process, so if you have a webcomic and like to have a home for it, we'd be glad to post it up in our webcomics section.

You can listen to the podcast here on our blog, which will feature, articles, reviews, and webcomics, or you can get Write Club! from iTunes. You can also chat with us on our Write Club! official thread up on the TenTonStudios forum, or you can hit us up on our Write Club! Facebook Page.

For those of you who may be interested in my upcoming graphic novel with the talented Chris Chua (as seen in Marvel's Strange Tales #3 out last Wednesday!), you can see the preview of it up at our studio's site TenTonStudios.com. As pages are lettered I will be posting them up at the link below.

LIQUID FURY PREVIEW!



You can also get your Chris Chua fix at his Controlled Chaos Caricature Blog and read his original webcomic-graphic novel HYPER DEMENTED TURDLE SHOWDOWN.

As for Timothy Mucci, you may have seen his TOM SAWYER from Sterling, but also available soon is THE ODYSSEY and you can pick up STAR WARS CLONE ADVENTURES Vol. 3 in which he has a short story.

So, that's us. Now, you tell us who you are and what it is you do. We'd like to help you in any way we can.

We Are Write Club! (and so are you)

K